Door check



June?, 193s. R J, HARRAH E'T AL v2,119,743

DOOR CHECK Filed sept'. 9, 1957 In nix ,Dh/740 J Har/wh q, 4a d Chas fer P /df/"O/Y Patented June 7, 1938 OFFICE e DOOR CHECK Philip J. Harrah and Chester P. Harrah, Bloomfield, Ind.

AApplication September 9, 1937, Serial No. 163,002

6 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in door checks employing toggle levers for securing maximum pressure and also employing a piston reciprocating through a liquid iowing through 5 ports from one side of the piston to the other for regulating the rate of movement of the door by Varying the size of the ports.

The object of the invention is to balance the toggle action on the piston and to provide an easy means for varying the size of the ports acting with the lever to control the rate of movement of the door.

A further and important object is to control the opening and closing of the toggle levers and eliminate a fixed and solid attachment of the levers to the door thereby obviating pressure or strain on the door hinges.

Another object is to provide a door check which can be adapted to heavy, medium, or light doors by changing the-size of the toggle lever operating springs, and to provide a. door check which is operative with four or only two levers, and which can be turned either side up for right or left door fittings, and which can be placed in any desired height on the door.

The object also is to provide a bar or lever which will raise or lower the piston rod in a door check without interference caused by varying position of hinges on different doors. 30 We accomplish the above and other objects which will hereinafter appear by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of parts of a door and door frame member with our invention applied thereto in contracted or closed position of the door;

Fig. 2 is a top plan View of same with a dash line indicating the center position of the door when open and the dotted lines indicating the door and door check when past the center position;

Fig. 3 is a detail on an enlarged scale of the cylinder in vertical section;

Fig. 4 is a detail in front elevation of the bar on which the door check is assembled;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation similar to Fig. 1 of a modied form of my device; and

Fig. 6 is a jamb bracket used in some instali lations.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views of the drawing.

In the drawing 6 indicates a door frame member, in this instance a casing, and 'I a door pivi otally mounted by hinges 8 in the usual manner. A plate 9 has screw holes therethrough for the passage of screws lil by which the plate is fastened securely to the casing 6, and formed on the plate 9 is a U-shaped bracket Il having a hole in the outer end of each leg to receive a, hinge pin I2 having a head at its upper end and screwthreaded at its lower end where it receives a nut toprevent the accidental withdrawal of the pin. Hingedly mounted on the pin I2 is a clip I3, here shown as a metal plate bent U- shape with a middle cylinder to surround the pin and each leg extended and formed intoa pair of ears, the ears of one leg-mating with corresponding ears of the other leg to-form new pairs between which the ends of toggle levers I4 and I5 are pivoted by pins I6 and I'I inserted through holes for that purpose formed in the ears. The purpose of the toggle levers will lbe presently explained. Y

The U-shaped bracket Il has holes through each leg near the plate 9, through which a second hinge pin I8 is passed and by which an end of a bar I9, which we designate as a tie-bar, is hinged to the bracket. As here shown this bail I9 is stamped out of sheet steel and for maximum strength andY stiffness has its longitudinal edges bent out at right angles into iianges 20 and 2|. These anges atA the opposite end of the bar from its hinge, are extended into ears 22 and are perforated to receive a hinge pin 24, similar in all respects to the hinge pin I2, by which a clip 25, in al1 respects like the clip I3, is hinged to the tie-bar.

The outer end of the tie-bar I9 is formed into a curved flange 26 to stiften the bar transversely and also to cause that end to slide against the door without marring the door. The tie-bar I9 is preferably further stiffened by the longitudinal corrugations 21. Pivotally mounted in the clip 25 are the ends of toggle levers 28 and 29 which are duplicates of the lvers I4 and I5. All four of the levers I4, I5, 28 and 29 are bent or cranked-to slightly S-shape. The lower pairs I5 and 29 haveadjacent ends pivotally secured to corresponding ears of a clip 30 which is xed to the lower end closure of a vertical cylinder 3|. Reciprocating within the cylinder is a piston 32 having a rod 33, the outside end of which has a head which isY xed in a clip 34, having ears 35, 35, to whichthe adjacent ends of levers I4 and`28 are pivotally, or in other words, hingedly attached.

The lever I4 is connected to the lever I5 by a spring 36 and the levers 28 and 29 are connected by a spring 31.

ill

The tie-bar I9 is provided with a longitudinal slot 38 adjacent the end farthest from hinge I8, and a wood screw 3S is passed through the slot into the door as Shown in Fig. 2. A ber washer is preferably placed around the screw between the tie-bar and the door.

Referring now to Fig. 3, the piston rod 33 is hollow. It is externally screw threaded at its lower end and a metal washer 4I) having a threaded hole is screwed on the rod 33 as far as it will go. Then a leather 4I is placed against the washer 40 and is followed by a washer 42, not threaded, and after that a threaded nut 43 is screwed on the end of the piston rod to hold the assembly.

Formed through the wall of the hollow piston rod 33 is an oil port 44 and formed through the bottom of the cap 43 is a port 45. As the piston 32 is forced down the oil will be forced from below the piston through the ports to above the piston, and conversely when the travel of the piston is reversed.

A rod 46 lls the bore of the rod 33 to and closing the port 44, partially or completely, depending upon the extension of rod 46 into rod 33. This extension is regulated at an enlarged and threaded end of rod 46, screwing into a threaded socket in the head end of the rod 33. The rod 46 can be screwed in or out by the aid of a screwdriver. A plug 41 in the lower end of the cylinder affords access for drainage and lling of the cylinder.

A Wire cloth strainer 48 is located in the cap 43 to prevent the entrance into the ports of foreign matter that might clog them.

In the modification shown in Fig. 5 the two lower toggle levers are omitted by fastening the lower ends of the two springs to the ears of a` bracket 49. The bracket is secured by a ball and socket joint to a hanger depending from the tiebar I9. The bracket also supports the cylinder.

To pack around the piston rod when it leaves the top of the cylinder, we form a cup 5I through which the piston rod passes. The cup 5I is filled with packing rings which are pressed by a gland 52 screwing into the threaded end of the cap.

In the operation of our device when the door is closed the piston is near the lower end of the cylinder and in opening the: door the hinge pins I2 and 24 are brought nearer together, spreading the toggle levers I4 and 28 further away from the toggle levers I5 and 29 and carrying the piston rod 33 upwardly and lowering the cylinder 3|; also equally straining the springs 36 and 37 which act to check the spreading apart of the levers. The reverse movement of the piston is accomplished by closing of the door. The contraction of the springs forces the hinge pins apart closing the door and also lowers the piston in the oil and the resistance is regulated by the size of the orifice controlled by the position of rod 46, the change in size permitting a variation in closing speeds of the door.

By hinging the levers 28 and 29 to the tie-bar I9 instead of to the door, the parts of the device are all assembled ready for use, only requiring that the plate 9 be screwed to the door frame member and the tie-bar secured to the door by inserting screw 38 through the slot 3B into the door. When the pin I8 is in alignment with the pintle of hinges 8 of the door, the slot and its screw 39 are not required.

The jamb bracket, shown in Fig. 6, is used on some installations where there is no available door frame member for other attachment.

By the use of the tie-bar pivoted to the same bracket as the door check, but at separated points, pivoting the other end of the door check to the tie-bar and slidingly contacting that end of the tie-bar against the door, the three resulting pivotal points are made uniform regardless of how the door itself is hinged and the door hinges are relieved from much of the strain.

We claim:

1. In a door check for a hinged door, having a frame member and having a movable cylinder, a piston reciprocating therein, a piston rod and a port from one side of the piston to the other, a bracket fastened to the door frame member, a pair of toggle levers pivotally supported from the outer end of the bracket having the other end of one of the levers pivotally attached to the piston rod and the other end of the other lever pivotally attached to the cylinder, a tie-bar hinged at one end to the bracket and attached to the door, a second pair of levers pivotally supported from the end of the tie-bar remote from the hinge of the bar, the other end of one of the last levers pivotally attached to the piston rod` and the other end of the other of said last levers pivotally attached to the cylinder and a pair of springs, one on each side of the cylinder, connecting the pair of levers on that side of the cylinder.

2. For a hinged door having a frame member, a bracket attached to the frame member, a door check attached to the bracket and a bar attached to the bracket closer to the door and bearing slidingly at its other end against the door.

3. For a hinged door having a frame member, a bracket fastened to the frame member, a tiebar hinged at one end to the bracket and a door check hinged to the bracket and sliding against the door at its other end as the door is swingingly moved, and to the tie-bar.

4. For a hinged door having a frame member, a bracket fastened to the frame member, a tiebar hinged at one end to the bracket, means for securing the bar to the door to allow for lon-` gitudinal adjustment of the bar on the door, a cylinder, a piston reciprocating therein having a rod and a by pass from one side to the other of the piston, a pair of levers hinged at adjacent ends to the end of the bracket and at their other ends to the piston rod and lower end of the cylinder respectively, a second pair of levers on the rother side of the cylinder from the first pair having adjacent ends hinged to the end of the tie-bar remote from the hinged end of the bar `and said levers having their other ends hinged to the piston rod and to the lower end of the cylinder respectively.

5. For a hinged door having a frame member, a bracket attached to the frame member, a bar pivotally attached at one end to the bracket and slidingly bearing at its other end against the door and a door check pivoted at one end to the bracket at a point more remote from the base of the bracket than where the bar is pivoted and said door check pivoted at its other end to the bar.

6. For a hinged door having a frame member, fa bracket attached to the frame member, a doorcheck, a tie-bar pivoted to a fixed support at one end and sliding against the door at the other end as the door is swingingly moved, said door check and tie-bar pivoted at different distances from the frame member.

PHILIP J. HARRAH. CHESTER P. HARRAH. 

